What is the perception of an American accent?

Question

Do British people find our American accents interesting, sexy, unrefined, rough,...? I was just curious to know. Is there a stereotype that comes with our American accent? I know that many Americans find British accents very intriguing, so I wanted to see if that feeling is reciprocated. Thanks

Answer 1

We do realize that there are different American accents, but Americans seem to think British=English and can only distinguish between the south london a la Mary Poppins (which is exaggerated) and the posh one (which not many have).

I like many American accents. Some can be sexy, though the Texan one is NOT. Some seem unrefined and rough, but then so do some British accents.

Britain= Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England - so accents vary a lot.

Answer 2

I am English and I have only met a few Americans face to face but I can say with honesty that they were lovely people. One of the ladies spoke with a very calm soothing voice and an almost "English" accent although I believe she came from Massachusetts. The husband had a similar accent but his voice was louder. In general, I love the American accent although some regions have rougher "twangs" which are a bit grating on the nerves, this said, some regions of Britain have lovely accents and others are pretty diabolical! I'd love to meet more Americans but not many come to our little village and I don't think you meet the "real" Americans when you go on holiday. By the way, I have a London accent.

Answer 3

Before I actually met and worked with Americans I had the usual preconceived ideas , the accents I had actually heard from the movies, I didn't like, to put it mildly!
The Bronx thing I thought was horrendous , then I remember seeing a movie of that very tall skinny guy, very famous cant think of his name now but he didn't speak so much as drawl, it seemed to take him forever to get a sentence out (Stewart Granger)? And that was about it, apart from the big John Wayne who only seemed to say "Git down offa that hoss"!
Now although I have worked with guys from all over the States, even Louisiana I never did meet any one with the exaggerated accents heard on the movies. The accents are even more diverse than the British.
Is there a British 'stereotype' for the American accent ?
I think so , others may not agree , but I feel that the Brits regard most American accents as being bombastic and overbearing, but who am I to say? I belive this opinion has been formed from American TV shows, that we are actually now copying ourselves, one frequent scene which really gets up my nose is police or army 'attacks' have every one yelling orders to each other, regardless of rank just all shouting "Go Go Go"!!!
Apart from that there is no real difference between the Brits and Americans and its only the upper class English that talk anything like Hugh Grant, the rest of us common folk differ a great deal, I'm sure that all will agree that the best and sexiest accent is the Glasgow one.

Answer 4

I am English and find it hard to pick out where someone comes from in the USA due to their accent, like you can in Britain (North England, South England, Scottish, Welsh, Irish etc) except for a general North / South USA difference. I went to the USA once and quite a few people thought I was Australian! It seems less snobby in the USA with regards to accents, in Britain if you have the 'wrong' accent you can be looked down on, which is unfair.

Answer 5

Most American accents are easy and pleasant but there are a few exceptions- New York Bronx, The Harvard drawl (e.g. Lloyd Grossman) and bits of Californian.

What I can't forgive them for is the corruption of the language. In amy cases what they speak is hardly English, however pleasant the voice.
E.g. their use of "momentary" instead of "soon" or "in a short time", when "momentary" really means "for a short time". Yes, there is a difference.

Answer 6

I am really sorry to say this and I don't mean to be rude but I don't think British people in general like the American accent and certainly don't find them sexy. french, Italian or anything Med are considered sexy. Sorry

Answer 7

i'm Australian and that i think of all accents are cool apart from new Zealand ones. And in terms of yankee accents, i in my view like Southern accents... I actually have a topic for cowboys *blush*. that ought to describe it.

Answer 8

Unrefined.

My personal opinion

Answer 9

well theres a lot of different american accents but im sure noone likes a redneck one

Answer 10

Great question! I've always wanted to know too. I'll be watching your answers.